Dessi Ceballos 2B

Ch 18
1. Plantations in the West Indies
 Colonization Before 1650
o Spanish introduced sugar cultivation after 1500 to West Indies
o English soon became more interested in West Indies for cash crops after 1600
 Founded small settlements
 Prospered early
o Tobacco
 Europeans loved it
 Spread around quickly
o Colonists were attacked by human and natural forces that prevented expected amount
 Led to creation of Chartered Companies
 England and France gave rights to private investors monopolies over
trade in the colonies in exchange for annual fees
 Indentured Servants- Poor who exchanged a ride over for 3-4 years of service
 Population Grew
o From Tobacco to Sugar
 They faced competition from Virginia tobacco
 Switched sugar cultivation
 Labor force changed from Europeans to Africans
o Dutch West India Company
 Spaniards didn’t know it was actually the Dutch Navy
 Used profits to cover expenses and to pay salaries
 After a treasure was captured, they paid the stockholders big money and
organized an assault on sugar plantations
 Improved Brazilian Sugar and used lots of forced Africans
 Portuguese drove out last Dutch sugar cultivators in Brazil by 1654
 Dutch used this knowledge to cultivate the Caribbean islands with it
 Sugar and Slaves
o Sugar in Barbados
 Became wealthiest and most populous colony
 Surpassed Brazil in Sugar Trade by 1700
o Slaves become more common labor force
 Had higher mortality rate
 Services lasted longer
 Indentured servants went to America instead
 
2. Plantation Life in the 18th Century
 Technology and Environment
o Wind and watermills powered sugar mills
o Environment
 Efficient in using everything
 Damages the land by soil exhaustion and deforestation
 European domesticated animals and plants were the majority in the Caribbean
 Slaves' Lives
Dessi Ceballos 2B

o Plantocracy-power resided in hands of the privileged few

o 90 % of the population was slaves
 Worked 18 hours
 Everyone had a task except those who couldn’t be able to do something
 Slaves worked in gangs
 Slave gangs were led by drivers who oversaw the work
 Little time for themselves
 Fatigue and poor nutrition caused miscarriages in pregnant women leading to
high infant death rates
 Had short life expectancy
o Seasoning
 Period of which 1/3 of new African slaves died from disease
o Culture
 Their culture remained strong even though the Europeans tried to destroy it
 Free Whites and Free Blacks
o England's colonies focused mostly on sugar
o Rich planters bought social prestige
 Formed influential part of parliament in England by taking 70 spots between
1730 and 1775
 British Plantocracy controlled most colonial assemblies
o Manumission- legal grant of freedom
 Sometimes bought or given to female slaves who've had a child with a European
o Maroons-runaway Caribbean slaves
 Formed maroon colonies
 Signed treaty in 1739 for independence and cooperation on new slave runaways
and revolts
 
3. Creating the Atlantic Economy
 Capitalism and Mercantilism
o Capitalism-ability to manage large financial resources through mechanisms
 Funded rapid growth of the Atlantic Economy
 Banks were capitalist institutions
o Mercantilism- policies to promote overseas trade and to get gold and silver
 Discouraged trading with foreign partners
 Chartered companies brought in big money
o Chartered Companies inspired government funded ones
 England and France both used their military to follow trading dominance
 Drove Dutch West India company into bankruptcy
 England then revoked monopoly rights to chartered companies
 Navigation Acts required that trade to the colonies was limited to
just England
 The Atlantic Circuit
o Atlantic Circuit- sea routes that started in Europe, went to Africa, and then went back to
Americas
o Middle Passage - part where legs met
o Flow of Sugar
Dessi Ceballos 2B

 Depended on flow of slaves

 Poorer people could afford it
 They added it to new drinks
o Flow of Slaves
 Traveled in specialized ships
 Most of the trade was organized by charter companies
 Traders depended on how many slaves survived and were healthy for a profit
 High loss of life on the voyages for both slaves and sailors
 
4. Africa, The Atlantic, and Islam
 The Gold Coast and the Slave Coast
o Slave trade transition was gradual
o African traders were influenced by what the Europeans tried to trade with
 If they didn’t like it or use it, they wouldn’t give low prices
 Wanted best bargain and raised prices when the slave trade increased
 Pows were the greatest source of slaves
 The Bight of Biafra and Angola
o Biafra was Densely populated and small
 Kidnapping was the main source of slaves
 Had fairs to sell slaves to traders
o Angola
 Slaves were pows
 Assimilated refugee children and women, but sold males
 Gave out rewards to get loyalty and new followers
 The most successful Leaders became head of states and stabilized areas
 Repopulated devastated areas with refugees and prisoners
 Africa's European and Islamic Contacts
o African's Lost very little territory to Europeans
 Rulers kept tabs on Europeans
 Profited from merchant fees
o N. Africa
 Became a permanent part of the Islamic world
o Songhai Empire
 Drew wealth from trade and was ruled by muslims
 Moroccan army destroyed the Songhai and extracted many slave tributes form
the territory
 Destruction weakened trans-saharan trade
o Hausa- trading cities